Back from the Dead
by NotJKR
Summary: Another marriage law. Done to death but so much fun!


Hermione opened her letter, hands shaking. The entire Weasley clan save Ron, Harry, and a few order members all had their eyes on her. She was the last in the circle to deal with what the ministry had thrust upon them, and given the mixed reactions, she felt as if she was justifiably terrified. She carefully unfolded the paper as if it would burn her.

_Ms. Hermione Granger:_

_The Repopulation Act of 2000 was passed in early May following fears of population decline and growing tension between muggleborns and purebloods after the end of the Second Wizarding War. _

_The goal of this law is threefold. _

_The first objective is to jumpstart the magical population. The wars' end did not see the usual spike in population_ as was the _trend in the past. The loss during the war coupled with the steep decline in birthrates prompted this decision. _

_The second objective is to renew old magical bloodlines. Centuries of interbreeding between the pureblood families has caused an unprecedented rise in non-magical births and stillbirths or fatal birth defects._

_The third objective is to break the discriminatory behavior towards muggleborns and purebloods. In the two years following the war, there have been many crimes committed towards both muggleborns and purebloods based on the circumstances of their birth._

_A simplified review of the Act is included in the envelope. We encourage you to read it._

_Wishing you well,_

_Martha Shrew_

_Binder_

_Office of Magical Binding_

Hermione shook her head, setting down the letter. The weeks of organizing and protesting months prior seemed silly to her now. She could see now no matter how many protests she put together, the archaic ministry was going to put this law through no matter what. It was the only way they could see to fix things.

She remembered the first protest she organized. A thousand witches and wizards, mostly her own age, showed up, just as furious as she. But months passed and though her protests were regular, fewer and fewer showed up. Hermione tried to feel an ounce

of the passion or even the anger that she had felt before, the righteous indignation that had fueled her, but she just felt empty, cold, and alone.

She heard the clearing of someone's throat and she blushed shuffling through the packet, feeling oddly guilty for taking up everyone's time. She needn't read the act anyways, she knew it almost by heart. After her protest fell through she scoured the act for some kind of loophole, a way out. But a month of research was all for naught. It was airtight.

Hermione found the last page of the document and started to read.

_Ms. Hermione Granger:_

_Based on the personality test taken at the time of your registry and the matchmaking spells performed upon you, you only have one pureblooded match that meets the requirement of the law. We understand that the lack of choice in this particular case can be frustrating, but we hope you eventually make your peace with it._

_Your match(es) is:_

_Sirius Orion Black_

_We wish you the best of luck with your upcoming nuptials._

_Felicity Finnegan _

_Match Distributor_

_Office of Magical Bindings_

Hermione re-read the short note. Then she read it again.

"Who is it, Hermione?" Ginny asked, still sitting on Harry's lap.

"Sirius Orion Black." She said clearly.

She felt strangely satisfied at the confused faces around the table and relished in the silence before everything erupted all at once.

"He's dead!" Molly said bluntly.

"You better not be joking right now or I swear to merlin I will punch you, I don't care if you are a girl," Harry shouted.

All the noise was too much for her. Grabbing her packet, she ran out of the room into the floo and was gone in a flash of green flame.

HGSBHGSBHGSB

Hermione arrived at the ministry and was greeted by a variety of glares varying in intensity. She rushed through the lobby, located the floor the office was on and climbed into the crowded lift. Determined to not meet the eyes of anyone in the lift, she stared into the grate, waiting impatiently for her floor. That is, until she heard _his_ voice.

"Hermione?"

Someone struggled to push forward in the lift. She turned around and saw the face of the last person she wanted to see.

"Ronald."

"Don't be like that, I haven't seen you in a year."

"Am I supposed to be happy to see you after what I saw? After you said that you would-"

"This is not the place for that discussion," He interrupted in a terse voice.

"Then we won't be talking at all."

As if Merlin himself was listening, the lift stopped at her floor and she gracefully exited the lift before he could get the last word.

The confrontation left her unsettled and not in the right mind. She turned the corner and walked straight into the office. The secretary looked up at her with awe. Hermione usually hated the hero-worship, but she knew that now it would get her somewhere, not stuck behind a wall of bureaucracy.

"I am Hermione Granger and I need to see the head of the matchmaking department."

"Felicity isn't seeing anyone right now, but if you schedule an appointment-"

"That's quite all right Dorah, she can follow me back."

A gorgeous woman with dark red hair and blue eyes strode through the doorway. Every inch of her oozed confidence and poise. Hermione was, admittedly, insanely jealous. She followed the woman to a fairly spacious, though windowless office.

"Please, have a seat."

Hermione noticed the slight Irish lilt to her voice and smiled.

"Are you related to Seamus?" She asked, trying to break the tension.

"Yes, I am his older sister. He always spoke highly of you, even if he was calling you a bossy little swot."

She smiled sadly down at a picture facing away from Hermione. She guessed it was of her brother.

"Are you guys close?"

"We were, but I ran away from the war. Went to Italy to study charms instead of fighting. He considered me disloyal. Hasn't spoken to me since his sixth year."

Hermione's heart instantly broke for the woman in front of her.

"I can try to talk to him-"

"It's okay. I have made my peace with the situation. I was never much of a fighter and I wouldn't have been much use. Now to the matter at hand, you have been giving us a lot of trouble."

"I thought that the trouble was warranted."  
"Off the record, I agree with you. This is barbaric and old-fashioned. Even for a society as far behind as this. On the record, I am very angry and you must know that no matter who you are, war hero or no, you cannot change your match."

"I'm not looking to change my match. I have read the law, quite thoroughly, mind you, and I know there is no way out." Hermione took a deep breath, "My match is Sirius Black, a dead man."

"Impossible. Our magic only matches the living. It is soul magic and cannot be performed on the dead. Sirius Black is alive."

"He fell through the veil in the Department of Mysteries _after_ he was hit by a killing curse. Sirius Black is dead."

Felicity grabbed a piece of paper off her desk, furiously scribbled a note and magiked it into a paper airplane, sending it off into the ministry halls. Before Hermione could even say anything whatsoever, a graying man built like a brute ducked through the doorway.

His grey eyes pierced Hermione's soul. He turned away from her and seemed to have a silent conversation with Felicity before turning back to the bushy-haired woman.

"You will have to make an unbreakable vow," His gruff voice perfectly matched his appearance.

Hermione nodded, holding out her hand. He grasped it and motioned for Felicity to perform the incantation.

"Do you swear to keep this conversation a secret and never reveal the contents of the discussion to anyone under threat of death?"

"I do."

The magic sealed, the man started talking.

"The veil is a constant source of confusion for us Unspeakables. The ministry is actually built on top of it because it was seen as a sort of 'gateway to heaven' or some such rubbish. People, in the old days, often tried to walk into it to find some sort of enlightenment, but none ever walked out.

The veil is nothing more than where souls go when we die. It is possible that because his soul left his body shortly before falling into the veil, it may have confused the delicate magic and kept him alive. As it stands you have two options. You can go into the veil and try to retrieve him, or you can be subject to the penalties of the law. That is, ten years in Azkaban or you could be stripped of magic."

"That's _fucking _ridiculous. It is not my fault that he is stuck behind the veil. I should not be matched to a dead man anyways. You are asking me to sacrifice my like to go somewhere where _no one has ever come back from_ or spend time in prison. Match me to someone else."

"Even if I could, you would only be condemning someone to your fate, your decisions. You are Hermione Granger, you have gone on much more dangerous adventures than this. If anyone can bring the dead back to life, it is you, or are you not the woman Seamus told me about?"

Hermione didn't know if it was the frustration of everything going on after the war ended, Ron's betrayal, the Repopulation Act, or her frustrations with not being able to find a job, but she nodded her head and told the Unspeakable that she would do it. She was going to bring Sirius back to life, if only to save her magic.

She followed him on the long trip into the lowest level of the ministry, nervously fiddling with her shirt. She struggled with the rational side of herself. The side that told her that she was being foolish. The side that told her she could run away, go into hiding and not risk this death sentence. But in the end, her emotional side one. She was going to do this. For herself, for Sirius, for Harry, who would be so overjoyed that his godfather, his only link to his past and his family, was back.

Suddenly, she was staring into the veil. It shimmered and moved in an unnatural way. She understood how the wizards of yore mistook it for the gateway to heaven. She could swear her grandmother was calling to her among the voices that echoed out into the empty cavern.

She took a step forward. Her fear intensified as she remembered that no one knew where she was. If she never came out, they never would know what became of her. But if she told her friends, especially if she told Harry, they would never let her do this. They did their best to keep her out of danger even though it was absolutely infuriating.

She took a deep breath and closed the final gap between the world of the living and the world of departed souls. SHe thought it would hurt, but all she felt was a sense of weightlessness, as if someone was levitating her. She opened her eyes, but all she saw was the light purple mist swirling around her.

"Hello, love."

At the familiar voice she whipped around and met a pair of bright silver eyes.

"Sirius."


End file.
